


Unexpected Aspects of Life

by bellinhasf



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Eventual Relationships, Fluff and Angst, Single Parents, Your Kid Hates My Kid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-07-28 21:29:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7657411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellinhasf/pseuds/bellinhasf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Killian Jones is a single father, that is one of the things he has in common with one Emma Swan. Their 4 year old boys didn't seem to be getting along with one another, and as an attempt of fixing that, they both discover that maybe helping each other wouldn't be the worst idea on the planet. But of course, nothing happens as they hope, and when life intervenes, they must figure out what would be best not just for them, but for their sons also. </p><p>(Started out as a 'Your kid hates my kid' AU one shot, and got turned into this multi-chapter work-of-something)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

4 year olds, you’d think they would be friendly and kind to all! How wrong was he!

Killian went to pick up his little boy Liam from preschool, today the little monkey came back with teeth marks on his arm. 

The day before it was a scratch on his leg. 

The day before that was a little cut on his lip. 

Clearly something was going on; his kid was never one to GET into trouble, more like the kind to do things that COULD get him into trouble, like climbing trees and volunteering to find a way to the roof to fetch the ball that was stuck.  
He was only 4 years old but the little rascal was quite the daredevil, so he wasn’t surprised when Liam’s teacher asked him to come in for a meeting the proximate day.

 

With the morning off, Killian could wake up somewhat later, and had more time to prepare an extra big breakfast for his little boy.  
The walk to school was more relaxed, but all the same nevertheless.  
With a kiss on the cheek little Liam was off, joining his friends on the playground.  
And even though the meeting wasn’t for another half an hour, Killian knew there was no point going anywhere if he would have to come back, so he went inside and sat at the reception, saying a warm ‘Good Morning’ to the always cheery Doreen, the receptionist.  
Her blushed cheeks not going unnoticed by him!

Some time later a blonde woman in a red leather jacket dropped herself on the seat next to him and sighed loudly. Of course he had to look over to her, everyone in the room did, but the blonde didn’t seem to notice, or care about the attention. Looked like someone didn’t have as great of a morning as him...

Finally when Liam’s teacher appeared she did not only call Killian into the room where she popped from, but also the blonde.

“Thank you for coming,” Ms Mills started, “I assume the two of you know why I called you in today?” she asked, while taking a seat behind the oversized desk and gesturing for them to do the same.  
The blonde nodded, Killian just looked at Ms Mills.  
“Your boys, they seem to have some sort of tension between them, we already had to sit them on opposite ends of the room, but if their behaviours towards each other doesn’t improve they will be excluded from preschool.” She laid it out coldly.  
She wasn’t one to care much about things, and she always said things like they were, no sugar coating, not even for the kids.  
The blonde and Killian looked at each other when she was speaking and Killian recognised her finally. He’d seen her around, she was the mother to another boy, he couldn’t quite remember his name, or hers for that matter, but never thought her kid was capable of such things, he seemed very sweet and quiet.

Ms Mills continued, not giving time for either of them to retort.  
“We credit ourselves with a very high behaviour standard, and it’s not acceptable the way both boys are going home to everyday, teeth marks, scratches, cuts! We haven’t called you in sooner because we were trying to deal with it ourselves, encouraging both of them to be nice to one another, but it didn’t seem to be working, so, the two of you have THIS weekend to discipline your kids, or I’m afraid you’re going to have to look for another preschool.”

Hard facts.

No sugar-coating.

“Am I understood?” Ms Mills asked when a dead silence hit the room right after her lengthy speech.  
Both parents sitting in front of her nodded.

“Good! And I’m not saying it is, but this behaviour maybe related to the fact that you’re both single parents, not having someone else helping with the education and discipline of your child can be tough.” She let out, eyeing them both.  
Then she turned her stare to the blonde and continued, “And it is more difficult for you Ms Swan, since Henry has no male figure in his life to look up to.”  
‘Henry! That was the boys name!’ the realisation only started to cross Killian’s mind when the blonde jolted up and slammed her hand on the table.  
“Okay, first of all, him not having a father around has nothing, and I mean nothing to do with his behaviour! Ever thought maybe it’s the environment he’s in, or the other kid?!” She half shouted at Ms Mills.  
‘Touching subject!’ Killian made a mental note, right before:  
“Hey, you can speak for your son, but leave mine out!” he let out to the blonde.  
“Fine,” she said to him, then turned her head to Ms Mills again, “and don’t worry, staring Monday you won’t have a problem with Henry anymore.” She said, turned around and went straight out the door.  
“With Liam neither, don’t worry; I’ll have a word with him, thank you!” Killian said, shook Ms Mills’ hand and was on his way also.

As soon as he walked out onto the parking lot he spotted the blonde again, Ms Swan. She seemed just as fed up as she was in the room.  
‘Wouldn’t hurt to introduce meself!’ Killian thought, and walked towards her, she had just kicked the front tyre of her car and was staring down at it, hands on waist.  
“Hey, sorry to interrupt,” he started; she turned around to face him. “We haven’t met before, my name’s Killian, Killian Jones, I’m Liam’s dad.” He continued, smile on his face, hand out awaiting a handshake.  
“Emma,” she said in response, “Henry’s mom,” and shook his hand.  
“Our boys don’t seem to like each other very much,” he said to her, in hopes of starting a conversation.  
“Yeah, no kidding! Your kid had some strong teeth in that mouth of his!” she said, staring at him.  
“Yours too, and I’m sorry about it, I don’t know what got over Liam, he’s usually not aggressive.”  
“Yeah, neither is Henry...” she looked down for a moment, “but don’t worry, come Monday you won’t have to worry about it anymore!” she said to him, and clicked open her car.  
“Uhmm, yeah, you too, I’ll have a talk with Liam!” he said to her.  
He got what she was trying to say when she opened her car, she wanted to go, didn’t want to or cared about standing in the middle of the parking lot having a conversation about her kid with a total stranger.  
So why he said his next words he has no clue whatsoever!  
“Maybe we can take the boys to the park, tomorrow maybe, to have them talk it out... face... to... face...”  
As soon as he said ‘we’ her whole stance changed to a mixture of defensiveness, outrage and annoyance. Hence why his words failed to come out at a cohesive pace.  
“Thanks for the offer but I think I can handle my kid!” she told him bitterly.  
“Oh, I have no doubt that you can, I just thought that maybe it would be easier if they just whine at each other for some time then go play together.” He flashed her a soft smile, hopefully making her see he was sincere, and in no way doubted her abilities as a mother.  
She just gave him a flimsy smile back.  
“Just think about it,” he told her, while taking out a piece of paper and pen from his coat pocket and scribbling something down.  
“My number, if you change your mind.” he handed her the piece of paper, she took it and stared at it.  
“Thanks.” She said, while opening the door to her car.  
That was his cue to let her leave.  
“Nice to meet you Emma.” He said to her, through the window.  
“Nice to meet you too Killian!” she replied, giving him a more sincere smile before pulling out and driving off.

She intrigued him! He didn’t know what it was exactly but he wanted to know more about her, wanted to know who Emma Swan was, wanted to hear her story and tell her his... and if he was being totally honest, his name on her lips sounded divine…

 

During work in the afternoon he was nothing more than distracted, people would assume he needed his phone to literally live by how much he latched onto it. He was anxious, wanted her to change her mind and meet with him and Liam the next day.  
Only after being told off by his boss that he locked the damn thing away, and tried to focus his mind on something else, perhaps his work, yeah, that would be a good idea, and it worked, kinda.  
His mind would still wonder about her, her story, her reasons for being so insulted when questioned on her ability to take care of her kid. He could relate, to a certain point, he was also questioned a lot about the same things.

 

He hoped he would see her again when he went to pick up Liam later in the afternoon, but no, he saw the same person as always picking up Henry, a pixie dark haired woman who was nothing short of the sweetest person Killian ever briefly encountered.  
Who was she? He had no idea! Maybe a friend, maybe a girlfriend, sister, cousin, nanny, he didn’t know, all he knew was that she was the one who normally picked Henry up from school. Either her or (every once in a while) a dude sporting a police badge, who would swing the boy up to his shoulders instantaneously without any hesitation whatsoever, and could possibly knock someone out with a punch. Or you know, with the gun he was always carrying…

Surprisingly Liam was in ship-shape today, according to him, “there was no cookie if we stayed together in the playground daddy, so I played pirates with Gabe and Millie, and Henry played magic with Tommy and Jamie” said with the biggest smile on his face, followed by “we got cookie today!!” and even a bigger smile!  
Killian thought that if the only way for them not to fight was bribing them, then something was definitely wrong! But he would leave it until the next day to talk to his son about it, Friday nights were always pizza and movie nights, he couldn’t ruin pizza and movie night!

 

A fort covered the somewhat-narrow space between their sofa and the tv, inside, pillows and blankets of all colour and shapes were all over, and as always, there was nearly not enough space for Killian, but (also) as always, he managed. His back would be a bother the next morning (as always) but oh well!  
Pizza box in his lap and his little monkey snuggled next to him, it was Killian’s definition of perfect!

Liam had chosen to watch Star Wars (Episode IV), and Killian had no objections against it.  
Liam was vast asleep by now, and Darth Vader had just sliced Luke’s hand right off when his phone vibrated (Killian’s, not Darth Vader’s!).  
Message from an unknown number.  
_‘Hey, it’s Emma, Henry’s mom. Maybe getting the boys together might not be such a bad idea, still available to meet up tomorrow?’_  
Smile on his lips he responded:  
_‘Swan! Of course we’re available, any suggestions as of where? K.’_  
Couple of minutes later:  
_‘Henry really likes the playground by the zoo, or any other park is fine.’_  
The smile hadn’t left his face, the movie long forgotten.  
_‘sounds good to me! 10am too early for you? K.’_  
Seconds later this time.  
_‘normally yes, but i’ll make an exception!’_  
_‘special am i?’_  
He regretted it as soon as he hit send.  
He threw his phone onto the sofa behind him, he was flirting with her! Even he couldn’t believe it! He hadn’t flirted with anyone in ages, and by ages he _means_ ages!  
He was out of practice, last time he flirted with anyone things were very different, he didn't know what would be too much, or what would be overstepping boundaries, and he was now apprehensive she was going to cancel on them because of it...  
He decided to let his nerves come down a bit before checking for an answer. He turned off the TV, picked up a passed out Liam in his arms and carried him to his room, proceeded to put all the pillows and blankets where they belonged before getting his phone again.  
She had answered.  
He took a deep breath and read it.  
_‘ha! only doing it for the boys! see you two tomorrow!’_  
Better than he thought!  
_‘see you tomorrow Swan! K.’_  
**Send.**  
He then typed: _‘Good night. K.’_ And wondered if he should send it, maybe it would be creepy, they didn’t really know each other! But then again, it was something everyone said, so maybe she wouldn’t mind. His finger hovered on top of the Send button, until Trevor, his cat, jumped from the top of the sofa to his lap and his finger tapped the phone lightly.  
**Send.**  
“No no no no, come back no didn’t mean to send that oh god!”  
He threw his phone to the other end of the sofa, whatever she replied, if she replied at all, he would read it later.

A while later, already on his side of the bed, he checked his phone one more time before putting it to charge, she had responded.  
Heart beating fast, he swiped opened the phone:  
_‘good night Killian’_  
And moments later fell asleep with a smile on his face.

 

He was awaken by the distant muffled screams of SpongeBob, and decided to get up and join Liam in the living room.  
“Morning monkey!” he said, sitting next to Liam on the sofa and giving him a kiss on the top of his very messy morning head.  
“Morning daddy!” the little one flashed his dad a smile before returning his attention to the TV.  
“What do you say we go to the park later?”  
“Okay! But can I finish watching SpongeBob first?” he asked, without taking his eyes from the TV.  
“Yes, you can!” Killian answered, planting another kiss on the boys head before heading up to the kitchen to get their breakfast ready.  
He refrained from telling Liam that they would be meeting up with Henry, didn’t want to give the kid a reason to not want to go, and to make a scene on the way.

Liam wanted to wear his dinosaur shirt, and take his lightsaber with him.  
“I’m Luke daddy, I need my lightsaber!” was his argument when Killian asked him if he really needed to take it, and it was the winning argument in the end, as they left the apartment with a _swoosh_ and _swish_ sound following along with them.

As soon as they went through the playground’s gates, Liam abandoned his lightsaber and ran away, climbing onto the first thing he came across. They had gotten there a bit earlier than 10, but the playground was already quite packed! It was a nice day, and everyone seemed to had had the same idea: take the kids to the park, just with a different reason!  
Some time later a little boy shot past him, nearly tripping over the lightsaber he had placed on the floor next to the bench. He heard a muffled ‘careful Henry!’ before turning his head, only to be met by Emma, walking towards him.  
“Hey,” she said, putting her bag down and sitting next to him on the bench, not even giving him time to stand up and meet her properly.  
“Hi!” he said, head trying to follow her actions.  
“Sorry we’re a bit late, Henry couldn’t decide between which two shoes to wear, so he wore one foot of each.” She said, pointing at him through the swarm of children.  
Killian chuckled.  
“Well, Liam decided to be Luke today, so he didn’t leave home until I was okay with him bringing his lightsaber with him!” he told her, flashing her a smile.  
She smiled back.  
And then they just sat there for some minutes, watching the kids play, in an air of awkward silence. Until “so, I didn’t know you were a single mom, always thought the police guy that picked Henry up sometimes was his dad.” Killian broke the awkwardness, turning his attention to her.  
“No, no, that’s my brother, David.” pause, “His dad is not around,” she told him, “never has been...” she then whispered, still watching the kids play.  
He just looked at her, sympathy filled his eyes.  
“Yeah, Liam’s mom died some weeks after he was born, so it’s been just the two of us since.” She had shared, so he thought he would too. He knew it wasn't easy for him to talk about the subject, and could imagine it wasn't easy for her either, so empathy usually was the best option in situations like this.  
She turned to face him, “I’m so sorry”, and she looked it.  
“Thank you, but it’s alright. After a while you start to learn how to live with it, you know.” He shot her a grin, and he could make out the green in her eyes, how they glistened with the sun shining over them.  
“How do you deal it, with Liam?” she seemed hesitant, but asked anyway, wearing a more serious tone on her face.  
“There are pictures of her around the house, when he asks I just tell him what happened and tell him stories about her, he’s still too young of a lad to understand completely, but I try.” He replied, this time he was the one who couldn’t take his eyes away from the children.

Every time he talked about _her_ to anyone, even to Liam, his mind would flood with memories, loving one, good ones, annoying ones, bad ones, some which he wish he could erase, and other he wish he could somehow take from his brain and place in the real world; sometimes it would get too much, and watching his little man playing started to lead his head down a memory lane, which he didn't want to be in right now, so he just turned to Emma and asked:  
“What about you, does Henry know his dad?”  
“No, he doesn’t. Never met him, and if up to me, never will! But I do tell Henry about him, when he asks, which thank goodness, is not that often!”  
Before he could respond, a loud wailing could be heard all throughout the playground, and mimicking all the other parents, both stood up and searched for their own to see if it was them.  
Thankfully it wasn’t, but Henry did go running to his mom to tell her what had happened, before he could he stopped in front of Killian and just stared up at him.  
Killian looked down, “Hello lad!” he directed to Henry, smile on his face.  
“What’s your name?” Henry asked him, while Emma sat back down.  
“Killian! What’s yours?” He responded while joining Emma on the bench. Henry’s gaze following Killian’s action.  
“Henry”  
“Nice to meet you Henry!”  
“Are you one of mummy’s boy friends?” Henry blurted out. Emma just looked at him with wide eyes.  
“Uhmm,” Killian started, glanced over at Emma real quick, but focused his attention on the boy once more. “I’m Liam’s dad, from your school.” he settled for.  
Henry then turned to his mum, “Liam’s here? Why is Liam here? I don’t want Liam to be here!”  
“Kid, you’re not the one who chooses!” Emma told him, while getting a water bottle from her bag and giving it to him. He drank from it, then,  
“Can we go to the other park?” he asked his mum.  
“No, we can stay here!” she told him.  
“Why? I already played here, now I have to play in the other park.”  
“If you don’t want to play in this park anymore you can sit here with us!”  
“But I don’t want to sit with you!”  
“Then go play!”  
“I don’t want to play!!!” he let out in a whine and gave the water bottle back to his mum.  
Killian was just silently watched them.  
“I’ll just go by myself then!” Henry told Emma, turned around and started to walk away from the playground.  
Emma didn’t seem to be fazed by that, Killian on the other hand didn’t take his eyes off of Henry for even a second, okay, maybe just one second, just to look over at Emma with a concerned look on his face.  
“Don’t worry,” Emma began to tell him, “He’ll come back in a minute.”  
She seemed so sure of it that Killian had no other choice than to believed her. And good thing too, as less than 2 minutes had gone by when they both saw Henry running back to the playground.  
Emma just smiled, before she saw where Henry was headed.  
She stood up immediately but it was too late, Henry had pushed Liam off the swing and Liam was getting up and rushing towards Henry.  
Both Emma and Killian dashed towards the boys, each holding their own to prevent any more injuries.  
Both boys screaming, blood on the floor from who no one was too sure, every other kid on the playground staring at them, parents commanding their kids to stay away, dogs barking, all in all, it was a complete mess!


	2. Chapter 2

Killian swung Liam up in his arms and started to walk away, Emma too, carrying a very fussy Henry away from prying eyes.  
As soon as he reached the bench he put Liam down, and kneed to be on the same level as him, while next to him Emma finally let Henry go, but Henry just ran off, towards the lake.

“Henry!” Emma called, Killian looked over and started to stand but Emma just put her hand on his shoulder, “Don’t worry, I got him.” and was off in the same direction as the boy. 

Killian then returned his attention to his son, who was now in the verge of tears, while trying to clean the blood from his scraped knee.  
“Hey buddy, it’s fine.” he reassured Liam, one hand rubbing the boy’s cheek while the other was digging inside his bag for something.   
He found what he was looking for, his first aid kit! With Liam, Killian took that everywhere!  
“It hurts” Liam complained.  
“I’ll make it better okay?” he told Liam, looking him in the eye, Liam just nodded.  
Killian then proceeded to add disinfectant to his knee, saying “This will sting a bit” just before, then got out a little tin of plasters, opened it and looked up at Liam again, “Okay, which one do you want today, SpongeBob, superheroes or monkeys?” he asked, tickling the boy in his belly, causing the him to laugh while answering him a playful “SpongeBob!”   
Once both of Liam’s knees were all bandaged up (only one was scrapped, but he had insisted that they needed to match, so both knees needed plasters, and Killian could not argue with his little man, even though he tried!), and the rush of it all had hushed a bit, Killian picked him up and sat him on his lap.  
“Okay, listen monkey , me and Henry’s mum were called into your school yesterday,” the boy paying close attention to his father’s face realised that now things were gonna get serious. “I don't know what’s going on between you and Henry but we need to work it out, that why he’s here, me and Emma thought it would be better with the two of you together, for us to talk to you and you two to hug it out and be friends.” 

Their relationship had always been built on trust and communication, even before Liam could speak, Killian would talk to him like he would talk to any other person, not diminishing any words, not talking in silly voices or anything, just explaining everything as it was. He got called out for it by many people, who thought he wasn't fit to be a single parent, who thought he couldn't even talk to his kid in a way he would understand. Turns out, Liam understood, better as the years went on, of course, and his vocabulary now was composed of words that most 4 year olds had no idea what it meant, and Killian was modestly proud of that!   
Moreover, he was only doing what his late wife would’ve wanted. Before Liam was born, the two of them would spend night over night awake, talking and comparing ways they grew up, making pro and con lists of what they thought would be a better way of raising their child, deteriorating ideas and thoughts and behaviours they would rather forget about. Both their upbringings were similar in a way, both were form England, both came from medium class families, but they had had very different experiences over their lifetimes, and it was important for the pair of them, to make the experiences of their child’s life as pleasant as they could.

“I don’t think Henry wants to talk to me daddy” Liam said, in a disappointed tone.  
“I know it seems that way, but we’re gonna have to work something out, okay buddy?”  
“Okay”  
Killian looked behind him, trying to see if he could spot Emma and Henry anywhere, all he got was a glimpse of was her blonde hair contrasting with the shimmering blue of the lake.  
He looked back at his son, “Tell me monkey, why are you and Henry not friends?” he asked his son.  
“We are” Liam told him.  
“Then why do you two fight with each other?”  
Liam just shrugged his shoulders.  
Killian gave him a look, a look that said ‘It’s okay, you can tell me’  
And so Liam did.  
“Henry doesn't have a daddy and I don't have a mummy and everyone else does have two parents, and they can be mean to us and call us names”

Killian looked surprised, he did not expect that at all!   
Of all the things he thought could be the reason for two little boys to not be friends, ‘toys’ would be number one on the list, and ‘number of parents’ didn't even make top 100…  
By his knowledge, they were the only ones in kindergarten to have single parents, there were kids with two mums, and two dads, and kids with step moms and step dads, but in that sense, they were alone.  
“I don’t understand, if they call both of you names, why do you fight with each other then Liam?”  
Liam looked at his dad hesitant, Killian gave him the look again, and tears started to form on Liam’s eyes.  
“Because I told Henry if you and his mommy were together everyone would stop talking about it,” he then started to cry, but continued, “and he said he didn't need a daddy cos he has one, and I said he didn’t, and he said he did, I said he didn't and he pushed me so I pushed him and we were fighting.” he finished, now sobbing and burying his face on his dad’s shirt.  
‘Mystery solved then!’ Killian thought., although he was still trying to get into grips of the whole situation.   
In all 4 years of being a parent, and being in weird situation and embarrassing ones, this was definitely the most unusual.  
He gently lifted his son’s face up to him, but he didn't know what to say to him. His logic wasn't at all bad, he had a problem -only one parent- and found a solution -another kid with only one parent, together, two parents for both kids-, so kudos on that part. But, but he still couldn't understand why! The other kids had no problem with the parent situation of everyone else, but did with his son’s? It seemed ridiculous to him! He had to hold back a laugh and focus on his son, who looked very upset.  
He rounded his arms around Liam and pushed him into him for a very tight hug, planting a kiss on the top of his head before letting him go.  
“Okay, here’s what we are going to do,” he wiped away the tear that lingered on Liam’s cheek, “we’ll go over there to Emma and Henry, we’ll talk to them and hopefully get this all sorted out,” Liam paying very close attention to his words, if he had any objection against anything, he kept it to himself, “and tomorrow I’ll go to your school again and talk with Ms Mills, and hopefully everything will be sorted out at school too, how’s that sound?”  
Liam nodded at his dad.  
“And you need to apologise to Henry.” Killian finished, Liam just looked at him for a sec, before nodding his head again.

Emma was sitting facing the river, legs stretched in front of her with a moody Henry comfortably sitting on them, back to the lake, attention on his mum’s face. Killian and Liam quickly duplicating their stance.   
Killian and Emma exchanged looks while both boys tried (too hard) to ignore each other.   
“Henry,” Killian started, getting the boy to turn his head towards him, “Liam has something he wants to tell you.”  
“Sorry” Liam whispered very quietly at Henry.  
“What was that? I didn't hear you son, what is it you wanted to say to Henry?”   
“Sorry Henry” Liam said again, this time more clear.  
“Sorry about what Liam?” Killian pushed him.  
“Sorry for biting you and pushing you and throwing things and stealing your toys and saying you don't have a dad.”   
A silence washed over them for a sec while Emma took Henry’s legs and pushed him around to fully face Liam.  
“I’m sorry for biting and destroying you drawing and for pushing you off the swing.” Henry then told him.  
Both Emma and Killian were smiling, now all they had to do was make them agree to stop fighting and be friends and all would be resolved!  
“Okay,” Emma then jumped in, “Henry, do you want to be friends with Liam again?”  
“Yes!” he replied.  
“And Liam, wanna be friends with Henry again?”  
“Yes”  
“So, the two of you will promise not to fight anymore, and not to do anything mean or hurtful to each other anymore, okay?” Both boys nodded at her.  
“Okay! Good! So, if you promise, you can hug and be friends again.”  
So they hugged, and immediately stood up and went running around chasing each other, before complaining that they were hungry. Emma as well as Killian were glad it was so easy for them to drop everything and be done with one another, they just hoped it would stay like that.

“Mum can we go have pizza in my favourite restaurant? I want to show Liam how pizza’s made!” Henry chimed in as a suggestion for their hunger problem.  
“Ask Killian kid, maybe him and Liam want to eat somewhere else, or maybe he doesn't like pizza!” she whispered to him.  
“Who doesn't like pizza mummy?” he asked before going up to Killian and asking if he liked pizza, and got the obvious answer, yes he liked pizza!

The rest of the afternoon was filled with new and fun memories for all four of them, after pizza they decided to keep the play-date going a bit more, and went to a museum. All along, Liam and Henry would not leave each others sides, holding hands while walking and calling one another over every time they saw something they liked.   
Needless to say Emma and Killian were enjoying the day too, although their conversation surrounded mainly over the boys and very superficial things, Killian hadn't had a conversation with anyone as easy going was he was having with Emma. Yes, he wanted to ask her more personal questions, to know more about her, but decided not to, he didn't want to spoil the good times they were having.  
They all felt like they could hang out together for ages, unfortunately, ages for the little ones meant until 6pm, when both simultaneously started to get groggy and asking to go home. More specifically, all of them to one home, to have a sleep-over.   
After an agreement between the two boys and their parents was finally reached, each duo was on their way home. The agreement? A play-date the next day, an entire day at the zoo where Liam and Henry could be friends and see their favourite animals. The terms obviously made by the boys themselves!

 

The journey home was a piece of cake for Killian, given that Liam had passed out on his lap the second they got on the bus. When at home, the boy woke up briefly, giving time for Killian to convince him to have a quick shower before he snuggled up with his stuffed duck on his dad’s oversized double bed and was out once and for all that night.  
Killian was still buzzing from having spent an entire day with such a fascinating woman, and was looking forward to spending another.

 

The sun seemed to be shining extra bright on that Sunday morning, and it may or may not be because he was going to spend another day with the amazing human being that was Emma Swan. (It was because of her, he was too damn excited to see her again that he spent a good part of the night wide awake replaying the memories he had of her, her laughing at something her son or his had said, how gentle she was when speaking to either of the boys, her hair, hear eyes, her nose, her mouth. He would get stuck on a particular memory of her mouth, and his mind would wonder, and then he would have to stop himself, it was inappropriate to be thinking of her the way he was - especially with his son asleep right next to him.)  
Fair to say Liam shared his father’s excitement for the day, he couldn't wait to spend another whole day with Henry that he was fully ready to go 10 minutes after he woke up, and 2 hours before they were actually going to leave the house.   
Killian swears that those two hours were the longest hours of his life!

This time, they weren't the ones who arrived early. Liam dashed at the first glimpse he got of Henry, and Killian’s heart sped, the smile on his face grew wider and wider as he got closer and closer to where the two boys were now hugging and comparing animal t-shirts, and then his face plunged. He was not met by blonde hair and amazing green eyes, no, instead it was brown hair and brown eyes, not a red jacket but a dotted dress.   
The only reason Killian wasn't more upset about the situation was because the woman - Mary Margaret- was so very nice, and apologetic about Emma not being there that the only think he could do was smile and try to have a nice time with her.

The day wasn't all that bad, of course the two boys would say it was perfect, what’s better than a day at the zoo with your best friend and an abundance of ice cream and candy? For them, nothing!  
Killian found that Mary Margaret was a talker, and ended the day knowing that her and the police officer David were engaged, and that Emma was her maid of honour and was absolutely fantastic at it, but she didn't know how Emma did it since the woman was so busy all the time with work and Henry. Killian also found out more about Emma throughout the day, he found out that she was adopted by David’s mother when she was 16, and had Henry at 18, and right now was working as a bounty hunter and according to Mary Margaret seemed to enjoy every last bit of it! Although Killian did notice that when the conversation swerved more towards Emma, Mary Margaret would get hesitant and the conversation would be very shallow, but he decided not to push, for all he knew Emma and Mary Margaret talked about everything and anything, and he didn't want his reputation to be the one of a pushover.

“Oh, Killian, I have something for you!” Mary Margaret announced while Liam and Henry were comparing glitter tattoos while saying their goodbyes at the end of the day. She reached into her pocket and drew out a piece of paper, handing it to Killian.  
“Emma gave me this to give to you.” She told him, and he took the paper.  
“Thanks” he told her, smile on his lips.  
He unfolded the piece of paper, it read:

_Sorry for bailing on the zoo today, had to work last minute.  
Had fun with you yesterday, hopefully will see you soon.  
Emma_

He didn't know how to react, he felt like an 11 year old boy whose crush just told him she likes him. But he wasn't 11 years old, and Emma didn't say she liked him, at least not in those words. He thought he was reading too much into it, and Mary Margaret even asked if he was okay due to his face changing from pure bliss to panicky.  
“Yeah, no, all good” He informed her.

All the way home he couldn't focus on what Liam was telling him, he wanted to, desperately, but his mind was dismissing giraffes and hippos and monkeys for Emma.   
He liked her, had to admit to himself that he was falling for this girl, who, by the way, he had only met.  
But what if he was reading too much into it? What if she just wrote that to be polite and didn't really mean it? What if the only reason she agreed to hang out a second time was for her son’s sake and bailed because she didn't want to spend another day with him? What if… What if…  
The ‘what ifs’ were what killed him.   
His mind couldn't just take things for what they were, it had to analyse everything beyond necessary, it had to fill his head with worry and anticipation, it had to make him anxious about things that may not happen, and make him restless with all the possibilities of what could happen, what was likely to happen, what couldn't possibly happen, and all other ways any situation could suck for him.

When at home, cooking dinner, Liam sat at the table with his colouring book, and Trevor the cat next to him.  
“Henry said his mum had to work today daddy, that’s why his auntie was there.” Liam informed his dad, unaware that he already knew.  
“Yeah, Mary Margaret told me.”  
“But he said that she was sad she couldn't go to the zoo today, he said she wanted to see all the animals and see me and see you too.” the boy, paying attention to the underwater scene he was in the middle of adding colour to, didn't notice how taken aback his dad was by what he had said.  
“He really said that?” Killian asked Liam.  
“Yeah, he said his mummy said to him she didn't wanna go to work but if she didn't her boss would be mad, and she was scary when she was mad.”  
“Well, maybe we can see to go somewhere else with them another day.” He told his son, not that Liam cared if Emma joined them on their outings or not, all he cared about was Henry. Killian on the other hand couldn't wait until he saw her again.  
“Look daddy, all finished!” Liam declared a few minutes later, holding up the page in which he had finished colouring.  
“That one’s the best yet!” Killian told him.  
“You said that about all of them.” Liam retorted.  
“Because they are all the best! But I particularly like the shade of red you gave Ariel’s hair here.”  
“Me too. Daddy?”  
“Yeah monkey?”  
“Can I have my hair red like Ariel’s hair?”  
“How about when you turn 5 we talk more about it?”  
“Okay!”  
“Good! Now, go wash your hands, dinner’s ready.”

Killian had debated whether or not to text or call Emma, she did leave him a note, he wanted to tell her he got it.  
In the end, he settled for texting.  
‘ _hey Swan, shame you couldn't go to the zoo with us today. got your note, also had fun with you! will I see you tomorrow? K_ ’  
 **Send.**  
He didn't expect a reply that night, it was kinda late, but he hoped anyway.  
She didn't reply.

 

He hoped to see next day when taking Liam to school, but David was the one who dropped Henry off.  
No reply to his text during the day, and Mary Margaret picked Henry up.  
He still hoped he would see her that week.

 

The week went by.  
Saturday came.  
Still no reply.  
Still had not seen her.  
Now he was beginning to feel like it was his fault.


	3. Chapter 3

_‘hey Killian, i am so, so sorry! had to leave town for work and left my phone behind and just now saw your message.’_  
‘seriously, i am so sorry’  
‘and i just realised its 2 in the morning, and im still texting you.’  
‘hey’  
‘i’ll stop now’ 

He woke up on a rainy Friday morning two weeks after sending her the text to find out she had replied.   
It took him by surprise.  
After the ghost replies he got, he had decided, nay, concluded that he had done something wrong and she was no longer interested in talking or hanging out with him, so he did his best to forget about her and continued to live his life as if that weekend never happened. So yeah, her reply took him by surprise!

 

He decided to deal with it later as he wasn't sure how to to, so until he figured out, he would just ignore it.  
Unluckily for him, he couldn't ignore it for too long, as surprisingly, Emma was the one dropping Henry off at school that morning.  
The moment he saw her he panicked. Thought if he didn't go in and just waved his boy off from a distance it would be fine, but she was desperately looking around the playground, greeting a few parents right before her wondering gaze came to a stop, locking eyes with him. He held her gaze for a while, before braking it off and attending to his son.  
Things in school seemed to be way better now for both Liam and Henry, Killian had talked to Ms Mills, and apparently so had David (during the time Emma supposedly wasn't in town), both boys seemed to be getting along just fine with each other and at school, and Killian wondered how much Emma knew, since she had been MIA for two weeks…

As he watched his son walk to the playground he could see Emma moving towards him, he fought the urge to just run away, and just stood there, paralysed as she reached him with a “Hi”.  
He just gave her a nod.  
Right now he had nothing to say to her. Right now he still hadn't figured out how he felt about the whole situation. Two weeks ago he was definitely falling for this mysterious yet interesting woman, right now, he didn't feel anything.  
Well, he felt annoyed, annoyed that he didn't know she would disappear for two weeks, ‘but then again,’ he thought, ‘we’re nothing, we’re not friends or anything of the sort, so why should I care?’  
Oh, but he did!  
“Sorry for texting you in the middle of the night, hope it didn't wake you up.” She told him, her attention all on him, trying to read his silence and his posture.  
Killian on the other hand was still staring at the playground, which was now empty as all the children had gone in.  
“No, phone was on silence.” He told her.  
“Okay, well, Henry filled me up on everything last night, things seem to be better now.” She was trying, he could give her that.  
“Yes, things are better.”   
“Henry’s been asking when he can spend another day with Liam, like they don't spend enough time together at school!” She told him smiling.  
He looked at her blatantly.  
“Free either day this weekend? Henry’s been dying to go to the planetarium at the science museum, I don't know if you guys ever been but it seems very fun!” She was REALLY trying. And the thing for him was, that she was acting like she didn't just vanish for two weeks.  
“Yeah, we’ve been, and it is pretty fun.” He started, “But we cant this weekend, we’re visiting my brother in New York, maybe some other time.”  
“Yeah, okay.” She sounded disappointed.  
“I’ve gotta go, otherwise will be late for work.”   
“Yeah, sure.”  
“See you later Swan.”  
As he was about to turn around and walk away:  
“I’m sorry, Killian, for not letting you know I had to leave town, really, I left my phone along with a note for my brother so that he wouldn't put an APB out on me while I chased this crazy woman.” She paused briefly, eyeing him, hoping he would see the truth behind her words.  
“And, I had fun with you, and Henry, but mainly with you, and I didn't know if it meant something or if it was just a one time thing, and didn't know how to act on it.”  
Yup! He did not read too much into it before! He gave her a smile (he believed every word she said, and as much as he wanted to keep a certain disinterest towards her, he just couldn't), and she continued.  
“I was hoping I could make up for bailing on the zoo, mainly for Henry’s sake,” she reassured him.  
“And maybe I could make up for the past two weeks also, would you like to get coffee sometime?” She asked him, “Just us adults?” Worry in her face, but a cheeky smile breaking through at the end.  
“I would very much like that Emma” Killian told her, faint smile on his lips.  
“Sometime next week?”  
“Yes! Definitely!”   
“Okay, I’ll call you.” She told him before flashing him a smile, waiving bye and walking away.

He was still annoyed, and yet he forgave her. For some reason when with her in any sort of way, he couldn't feel anything other than fondness, she could be yelling at him and he could be yelling back but inside he would be filled with nothing but affection for that woman. On his way to work he tried to think when it was the last time he felt like this towards someone, the last time he felt so much joy towards a person and no matter what that person did his feelings towards them would not change. He knew when the last time was, but it had been so long ago that he had felt that way that the feeling was totally foreign to him. He could definitely get used to feeling like that again.

 

He wasn't lying when he told Emma he was going to visit his brother over the weekend, he was actually heading to New York the instant Liam got in the car after school had finished. He was in such a hurry when picking Liam up he didn't even notice if Emma was there or had already picked up her son, but for now his mind was occupied by something else, thoughts of Emma had been momentarily replaced by thoughts of meeting his new niece!   
His brother’s wife had just given birth that week, and had invited Killian and Liam to spend the weekend with them, with the main cause being to meet the new addition to the Jones family.  
The drive was quite long, but the journey was not unknown, as they had done it many times before, Liam was used to it and would most times sleep throughout.  
This time was no different.   
Liam had this raggedy, worn out, one of a kind blue dragon his mom had gotten him before he was born, and he was attached to it in more ways than one, he slept with it and took care of it, and only took to places he knew was safe, like his uncle’s house. Needless to say Keon the dragon was snuggled tight between Liam’s chest and arm, while his other hand grasped onto one of the toys he had picked out for his little cousin, and Sandman no doubt was working his magic, as the boy continued fast asleep even after his dad turned on the radio and started to sing along to the songs as they came along. 

 

“Can I press the bell, can I press the bell, I want to press the bell.” Liam obviously couldn't hide his excitement, and after his nap in the car was at full swing!  
Killian picked him up and he pressed the bell, and waited eagerly on his fathers arms for someone to open the door.  
The door opened, and the excitement in that little boys’ face did not fade until about 11pm that night, when he could no longer keep his eyes open and was begging his dad to go to bed.  
“Go take care of your son bro, we got all the time in the world.” Killian’s brother told him. And so Killian went to put little Liam to bed.  
“Daddy,” Liam mumbled half asleep.  
“Yeah my little love?”  
“I wanna a sister” his words were barely coherent, and Killian had a feeling the boy had no clue what he was on about. But he chuckled anyway at the boy’s request.  
“You want a what?!” Killian asked again, hoping Liam would be too far gone into slumber by now to answer.  
“A sister daddy” he mumbled at his dad, “Henry’s my brother and now I want a sister” he let out before letting out a huge deep breath.  
“Okay,” Killian then started, stroking the boys cheeks, “how about we talk about this tomorrow?”  
Liam mumbled a little “Okay” in response and was out.

It was revivifying seeing two grown ups coo over a little tiny baby. The last baby Killian had seen was his own, 4 years ago! But now, he was experiencing it all through a different point of view, and that warmed his heart.  
“Y’know, we tried giving her a stuffed bear but she didn't give a damn about the thing, then a kid comes over and gives her a little bunny and the little lass doesn't want to let it go.” his brother announced as Killian returned to the living room.  
“His plan is to be her favourite, he’s gotta start early!” Killian then joked, sitting down.  
“We wanted to go out tomorrow, have a picnic at central park, how does that sound?” Tink, his sister-in-law asked him.  
“Sounds lovely!” he told her. She then proceeded to get up and hand the baby to Killian before:  
“Well then, I haven't had a proper shower in a couple of days, she is yours for now.” she declared, walking away to the bedroom. Both men just looked at each other in amusement.  
“D’you ever think about having more kids?” his brother asked him slightly out of the blue.  
Killian just looked at him puzzled.  
“It’s just, Think thinks it would be better to have another one sooner rather than later, she doesn't want too many years apart from one another.”  
“Mate, you just got this one, enjoy it a little bit.”  
His brother just chuckled.  
“Isn’t it right little Amelia? Tell your daddy to enjoy you before giving you someone else to play with!” Killian baby talked to the laid-back baby in his arms.  
“I kinda agree with her, Amy’s gonna need a bud. We’re only gonna see you guys every now and then.”  
“She’ll make friends,” he told his brother before turning to the baby once again, “won’t you little darling? Yes you will! before we know it you’ll be off rebelling against your parents with all your boyfriends and girlfriends! Yes you will!” It was surprising how high his voice got when talking to her!  
His brother just shook his head, he was trying really, really hard to not grin at Killian, but was falling miserably.  
“Oh!” he seemed to remember something, “who’s this Henry that Liam couldn't stop talking about?”  
“His best friend,” Killian informed his bro, “couple of weeks ago I got called into the school cos Liam and Henry were fighting too much, so me and Henry’s mum decided to have them bury the hatchet by spending the day together, and since then they’ve become best friends.”   
“Oohh, you and this kid’s mum!!” his brother shot him a look, “what’s the deal there??” he asked, half jokingly.  
“Well, since you asked, we are going out this week.”  
His brother looked surprised, he half expected Killian to say something like ‘she’s married’, or ‘not my type’ or any of the other thousand excuses he had told him before about the women Killian had met in the past years.  
“Wait, you asked this girl out?”  
“Woman, and yes, but then she didn't reply, I thought I read the situation wrong, but turns out she just was outta town. Then she kinda asked me out and we’re having coffee this week.”  
“Just be careful okay?” Was the last thing his brother told him before changing the subject. Emma would be the first woman Killian went out with after his wife had passed. All other attempts at dating ended up poorly, or more, started out poorly, due to his anxiety. He knew his brother was gonna be worried about it now, but this time he intended to go through with it. 

Sunday came and went, their picnic in the park was everything and more. All Liam wanted to do was play with his cousin, but she, being just a few days old, was interested in nothing more than sleeping, crying, eating and pooping. The mentions of ‘Henry this’ and ‘Henry that’ from Liam didn't go unnoticed by either brother, and Killian made a mental note to suggest to Emma a day in New York with the boys.  
Then it came time to say goodbye and head back home, with promises of ‘see you soon’ and ‘we’ll come visit you guys next’.   
It was late, their drive back to Boston a bliss, with Liam asleep it was just Killian, the radio and the road, until his phone rang and he was joined by the sweet voice of one Emma Swan.  
“Hello”  
“Hey, it’s Emma, catch you at a bad time?”  
“Swan! No, not at all! I’m just driving back form New York.”  
“Oh, I can call later if you like.”  
“Nonsense, talking to you is better than the bloody dreadful things radios try to pass as music.”  
He could hear her chuckle after his comment.  
“I called to ask when you would like to go out this week!”  
He hoped he didn't sound too excited when replying.  
“How about Tuesday? 1:30?”  
“Tuesday sounds good.”  
“There’s this little coffee place I know, they make a mean chocolate cake, I’ll send you the address?”  
“Sounds perfect!”  
“It’s a date then!”   
Silence.  
His adrenaline plummeting and anxiety starting to kick in.  
“Sorry, yeah, it’s a date!” she said, before his mind could start to freak out on him.

 

Monday felt like it was going on forever. Every time he looked at the clock hoping hours would have passed only minutes or seconds would have gone by.   
Tuesday morning Liam was nearly late for school, not his fault, the little boy always picked out his outfits the day before. His dad on the other hand had changed shirts three time in the space of 5 minutes trying figure out which one was best for a date.  
Killian and Emma hadn't seen each other since the Friday when she asked him out, he was worried his image of her was exaggerated, and that he worked himself up too much for this and was expecting too much.  
He arrived at the coffee shop 20mins before they said they would meet, ‘too early to go in and sit and wait, I’ll walk around the block a few times.’ Even walking he was restless. He tried listening to music but didn't know what he wanted to listen to, and pressing next annoyed him so he turned it off. In his head he was attempting to think positively, but it was hard, oh boy how it was hard!   
-To give you an idea, the last date he had, it had happened approximately 7 months prior to this one, a very nice marine biologist named Ariel agreed to go out with him after they met at a dinner party. They were going to lunch at this very nice restaurant overlooking a river. Killian as per usual got there earlier, he tried to make himself calm and composed for when the girl arrived he seemed natural. Nothing worked. Everything he did only made his anxiousness worst. H needed up leaving and standing her up. He left about 5 minutes before she was due to arrive, and wrote and rewrote texts apologising but sent none. Instead, he told his brother, who proceeded to tell the girl that Killian was sorry but wasn't going to show up for the date.-   
He wished for nothing more than to never, ever repeat that day in his life. 

He came around the corner of the street once more, checked his watch, 13:25, the HuggaMug Cafe’s doors right on sight, he could see everyone that went in, came out, and most of the people inside.  
He looked down at his watch again, 13:26. ‘Now or never’ he thought to himself, but couldn't get his legs to move. Suddenly he wasn't feeling well, his heart felt like it would pound right out if his chest and sprint away, his head was spinning, he felt like he was going to be sick right there and then, his vision had gone blurry and he couldn't focus on anything. This was it, this was the moment he was going to bail on yet another woman, this was the moment he was going to disappoint yet another person. And this time it was worse! He would definitely see Emma more often than he would like, how would he tell her he couldn't go inside a coffee shop? How would he look at her again without feeling the judgement coming from her from being stood up? He would have to go into hiding, asking a friend or someone to take his kid to school because he couldn't deal with the possibility that he might see that one person.   
He was lost. He didn't want to go in and make a fool of himself. He didn't want to leave and embarrass himself. He saw no way out of this. He thought if he was run-over by anything right about that moment it would make his situation a million times better. He tried to calm himself down, tried to take deep breaths and relax and clear his mind, but it wasn't working, his mind had gone into ‘PANIC MODE’. He had to leave. He decided he would leave. He would look at his watch once more then bolt out of there.  
13:31


	4. Chapter 4

He looked up and there she was, walking fast down the street towards the coffee shop, her phone in her hand, glancing down at it a few time to check the time undoubtedly.   
All of a sudden his mind went blank. His eyes found a spot to focus on and finally, finally he was able to take one deep breath without causing his stomach to want to empty itself.

He wanted this, wanted to be able to shake off all the negative feelings. He tried to shove all the antagonising thoughts to one side and fill his mind with one thought: ‘just walk in that coffee shop and have a nice time with a marvellous woman, go in there, all confident, apologise for being late, sit across from her and make small talk, about whatever, have a good time and hopefully she’ll wanna go out with me again’. His pep-talks to himself almost always worked. He was glad this time was an ‘almost’ kinda time.  
He took another deep breath and crossed the street, looking both sides to make sure it was clear, took another deep breath and pushed the doors to the coffee shop open. He didn't need to look around much to spot Emma, and as he started to walk towards her half his brain was shouting ‘ABORT ABORT’ and the other half was aggressively telling him ‘you don't have the courage to go through with this’ and ‘you’ll bail any minute now’. And that’s what kept him going. As loud and annoying both those voices were, there were always another voice, deep, deep down, one that was always darkened by and hiding away; it was his hopeful voice, the optimistic one, the only one he had in his head until his life took a turn to the worst some years back.   
His hands were shaking, he was sure he was sweating buckets when he reached Emma.   
“Hello” her voice sounded chipper.  
“Sorry I’m late.” He said while sitting down across form her.  
“Oh, it’s okay, I just got here.”  
He just smiled at her.  
If she had noticed his state she said nothing, which helped him ease his mind and put his anxiety at bay.  
“How rude of me, would you like something to eat? Drink?” He let out at her.  
“Yeah,” she chuckled at him, “Would you recommend anything?”  
“Chocolate cake’s pretty good.”  
“I remember you mentioning it! I’ll have a piece.”  
“Anything to drink?”  
“A hot chocolate?”  
“I’ll be right back!” he shot her a smile before getting up and going to join the queue.

Watching her from afar made the remainder of his nerves calm down, she had a smile on her lips, her attention on the passerby crowd. She looked tranquil, and he wished he felt the same. He took some more deep breaths while waiting for their order to be ready, and when he walked back to their table, tray in hand, he felt like his whole body had settled, and that he would be able to enjoy this date without too much worrying going on inside his head.  
He sat down, did his best to keep a steady hand while handing her her drink and putting his in front of him. He was beginning to stand up again to put the tray away when she interrupted him:  
“I’ll do the tray.” She informed him before picking it up and heading to the counter.  
She came back with a silver tin on her hand, and sat back down again.  
“Hot chocolate’s not hot chocolate without cinnamon.” she told him, after he gave her a questionably look.  
“Ah, I’ll have to remember that one for future reference.” He didn't even think before he said it, and once again his mind was in ‘ABORT’ mode, until he looked up at her, up in those heavenly glistering emerald green eyes, and she was looking at him, staring down at his soul, and for a moment everything stopped. The world around him stopped. All he could see were her eyes. All he could feel was a warmth inside. All he wanted was to feel like that forever.  
He bit his lip, and everything started to move about around him again, apart from Emma, who was still looking at him, wide eyes, eyebrows raised, smile on her lips.  
“So, you’re brother’s getting married?” he asked her, out of the blue.  
She shook her head before replying, “Yeah, he is, Mary Margaret told you?”  
“When we went to the zoo.”  
“Oh, yeah, she said you too hit it off quite okay.” She still felt guilty about that day, and it showed.  
“And you’re the maid of honour?”  
“Yes I am!” she said, excitedly, “Hard work, very hard work! I’m planning her bachelorette party right now.”  
And the conversation about Mary Margaret’s wedding kept going for a good half an hour. Killian wasn't all that interested in it but kept asking questions anyway, and Emma kept answering them. Then they hit a wall, and a stiff silence rushed over them.  
“What do you do, Killian?” Emma finally asked, changing the subject.  
“Oh, I’m an astronomer, right now I’m working at the planetarium part of the science museum.”  
“Wait,” she told him, holding up her hand “so when you told me you’ve been to it…” she didn't even finish her sentence, her mouth just hanging open. He just nodded at her.  
“You didn't mention it!” she said, leaning forward towards him, “Tell me more! What do you do?”  
And so he proceeded to tell her about his job, how he was basically in charge of the planetarium section of the Science Museum, and that on some Friday’s he had to work late because of this activity that there was, and what he did before that, and what he hoped he could do in the future, although he really, really liked his job.  
“We can see a day to take the boys, get you and Henry to experience a VIP tour of the place.”  
“Sounds amazing.”

They were so distracted talking that neither of them remembered about the chocolate cake that was literally in front of them.   
When they both announced that they had to go, Killian had the cake boxed up so that Emma could take it with her. He held the door open so she could go out, and followed behind.  
“This was really fun!” she told him, turning so she would face to face with the man.  
“We should do it again some time.” he said, eyes locked on hers once more. Fair to say his nerves had calmed down, a lot! He felt relieved, relieved that he was able to go through with this date, relieved that for once his hopeful, optimistic voice took over in his head and allowed him to enjoy this date.  
“Yes we should.” Emma said, before taking a step closer to him.  
“I’ll call you?” he asked.  
“Sounds good.” she answered him, giving him a smile.  
She took another step closer to him, their bodies now inches from touching, her heel lifting from the ground, whole body balancing on her tip-toes and leaning towards him. He saw her eyes, and spotted the faint freckles on her cheeks before closing his eyes and feeling her lips on his. He parted his lips slightly, and she did hers, but the kiss went no further. Their lips just lingered for a moment, her upper lip between his. They parted, Killian for one felt like he couldn't move, he opened his eyes, witnessed Emma lick her lips once before giving him a smile.  
“Bye Killian.” she said, before turning around and walking away.  
“Bye Emma.” he whispered into the air, a sweet, sweet smile also plastered on his lips.

 

For the rest of the day he was bewildered. He couldn't stop smiling, he couldn't stop seeing her in her head. That moment before he closed his eyes kept replaying itself in his mind, followed by the moment he opened his eyes. For the whole day he could think of nothing else, and no-one else apart from Emma Swan.   
That afternoon, he practically skipped his way over to his son’s school to pick him up, and his heart accelerated when he spotted Emma waiting by the door.  
“Hi,” he came up to her.  
“Hi”  
But their conversation didn't go beyond those syllables, since about 30 kids came running out of the door and rushing past them.  
“Mr Jones, could you come in for a second?” a voice came from the inside, Ms Mills was standing there, eyeing him intensity.  
Henry came running out to his mom, giving her his backpack before running inside again, Emma went to follow him, and Killian went to follow Ms Mills.  
“Need anything?” Emma asked him in a rush.  
“No, don't worry.”   
“What about lunch, tomorrow?” She asked looking at him, he came to a standstill. “I’ll call you tonight” He told her, before disappearing though some doors, behind a speedy Ms Mills.

“Really Liam? Again?” They were walking, heading towards the Science Museum, where Killian had to finish up some work.  
“Sorry daddy.” Liam said, looking down at the floor.  
“We’ve already talked about this,”  
“I know,” he looked up at his dad, “but it was stuck, and there was only one, and we didn't finish playing, I asked Ms French to get it but she didn’t, so I went up there.”  
“Look,” Killian stopped and looked down at his son. “I know that you like to climb up things, and I know that you only do it when there’s no other way, but you could've fallen, you could've hurt yourself.”  
Liam just sighed, and they continued to make their way.

 

_‘Swan, i know it’s late, but tomorrow? What time?’ He eventually got around to texting Emma.  
‘Hey! Yes, if you can, lunch maybe?’  
‘Sounds good’  
‘2pm? I’ll text you the address.’  
‘2pm it is.’_  
It was late! Very late! He had gotten out of work late! So late in fact that Liam had fallen asleep there. The little monkey was now so used to the place that he had claimed his own little space in a corner of the physics department room, and tonight, Killian found him snuggled up in a white coat on a bed of pillows. He even took a photo, just to remember how cute that little scene was.   
_‘Everything okay with Liam?’_ Emma texted a few minutes later.  
 _‘All good, i just got told off by not telling him off about climbing up to the roof of the school’  
‘I dont know how to respond to that’ ‘He claimed the roof?’  
‘To get a ball that was stuck.’  
‘Not the first time?’  
‘I’ve lost count!’ ‘Henry never mentioned?’  
‘He mentioned that Liam got the ball that was stuck but didnt specify where it was stuck’  
‘On the roof, the ball was on the roof’ ‘And thats not even the worst place hes climbed before’  
‘Oh no’  
‘Yeah, the ER doctors in the peds ward already knows us’_  
He doesn't know when it had happened, but all of a sudden it was so easy to talk to her. So easy in fact, that they kept texting until dawn was fast approaching.

 

They went to lunch on Wednesday   
(topics of conversation were more about their kids, on that day, Emma learned that Killian had a brother, a brother with a peculiar name:   
“Wait, what’s your brother’s name?”  
“Uilliam, U-I-L-L-I-A-M”  
“I’m guessing it’s English?”  
“Yes, it is.”  
“And so Liam is named after your brother?”  
“Yes, I couldn't say his name properly when I was younger, so I called him Liam, which he hated.”  
“What did he like to be called?”  
“Uill, like Will W-I-L-L.”)  
And on Thursday   
(where they discussed things more close to the heart, Emma talked about being in foster care, and mentioned about some houses she lived while younger, some mentioned of Henry’s father and how she met him were also part of the conversation. While Killian talked about his mother, and his father, and how his lost her, and how that basically shaped his life until he lost his late wife. But both would change topics drastically after sharing certain things, both glad they could talk without too many filters with each other but still hesitant to open up to much.)  
And on Friday  
(at which point they just shared some things about each other that they thought were interesting, like Emma told Killian she was really good on spotting when people lied to her, there was a mention of Henry, and his father again, but nothing much, and Killian told Emma he owned a boat.  
“WHAT?!? You have a boat?!?!”  
“Yeah, nothing big, or fancy.”  
“Do you sail it or something?”  
“Yes sometimes, but mainly when the weather’s good me and Liam just spend the night on it, watching the starts and sometimes, we can spot a planet or two!”)  
And decided to include their kids on the fun. 

So Saturday came and they met once more, this time with their sons in tow. Killian had planned a bunch of activity for the boys at the museum, with a guaranteed visit to the planetarium, all of it with exclusive commentary by non-other than Killian himself - and a few ‘behind the scenes’ visits especially for them.  
“I’ve been here a trillion times!” An over excited Liam informed everyone, while standing in front of the other three and continuing: “So, I’ll be your guide today! I really recommend visiting the planetarium, I’ve been told they have an extraordinary staff!” He looked at his dad, cheeky smile on his little face. Emma couldn't help but smile too, the boy was so adorably cute, and so excited about it all it was amazing. Her boy was mesmerised too. In all his 4 years in Boston, little Henry had never been to the Science Museum. He’d been to other museums, and the little tot even kept a list! He crossed off and added on ticks whenever they went to a museum, and after this day, his list would be one name longer.  
Liam gasped all of a sudden, “Daddy, daddy, daddy,” he let out, faster than his dad could keep up with, “Can we go to the polar bear cinema please please please?”  
Emma and Henry had no idea what Liam was on about, but Killian apparently did.  
“Well, if my bairn would let me speak for a moment he would know that I posses a list of what we’re doing today, and all he had to do was just ask, once.” Killian told Liam, before getting his itinerary out of his pocket and sharing it with the lot.

Needless to say everyone enjoyed immensely their day. Killian was a bit hesitant at first on how to act around Emma with their kids around, and she noticed, so when she held his hand while they were walking around, he didn't hesitate to hold hers back. They walked around the museum, went to the ‘polar bear cinema’ expedition, had a tour of his office, and ended the day with the planetarium.   
It was a good day.  
That good day turned into a week, which turned into two.  
By then, they were seeing each other almost every lunch time, and spending almost every weekend together all four of them, and were in the middle of discussing about having a sleepover with everyone!  
Turns out they did, at his and Liam’s tiny apartment, on a rainy Friday evening, a fort covered once again the space between the sofa and the TV, inside, there were more bodies than pillows, and not for a lack of trying, but for a lack of space. The movie: Zootopia, the snack: pizza, 15 minutes left for the movie to finish: two fast asleep boys and two very uncomfortable parents who couldn't feel their arms, hands, or legs anymore. Liam had insisted in sleeping next to Henry, his mattress on the floor along some bigger pillows made the trick. Killian and Emma felt kinda awkward when it was just the two of them left awake. Both sat on the sofa, watching something on the TV, and before long, she was snuggled up next to him, his arms around her. He didn't want to overstep, and so had insisted that Emma took his bed while he slept on the sofa, and that’s how they spend the night, neither having the best time, both wishing for the other next to them, but that was going to have to wait until their next sleepover.  
Their two good weeks turned into three, then into four, and before they knew it, they had been dating for three whole months! Their kids had been literally inseparable for three whole months. He finally found bliss for three whole months.  
Whenever she needed a babysitter, or any help with anything, he was there, and vice-versa. It was nice. It was more than nice. They were individually starting to feel like a family, the more time they spent together, the more they each wanted more of it.  
Another sleepover was fast approaching, with his schedule and hers, sometimes it was hard to spend more than a few hours together just the two of them, and just the four of them. This was their fourth sleepover in those three months, and it was at Emma’s and Henry’s place - since they alternated with every one.   
Emma had picked up both Henry and Liam from school, and took them to hers. Killian had to work that evening, and would meet them later on.

“Hey” He said, when she opened the door for him to go in, giving her a haste kiss on his way.  
“Hi, you’re in a hurry.” She turned to follow his steps through her flat.  
“Can I use your shower? Sorry, this kid dumped a full cup of soda on me.” He explained, feeling a little bad for coming in like that.  
“Oh, yeah, go, I’ll get the boys to help set the table so we can have dinner after.”  
He came closer to her, and gave her a proper hello.  
He said a quick ‘hi’ to the boys who were playing dinosaurs in Henry’s room before heading to the bathroom.  
After his shower he went straight to the kitchen, where Emma was just finishing up dinner. They ate, they talked, they laughed, they ate some more, then they overlaid some blankets on the floor of her veranda to watch the lights of the city, ice cream bowls in hand. Sometime later, Henry had insisted on a bedtime story, and so Emma and Killian teamed-up and read two books to the boys, doing voices and all!   
With both boys in bed, probably asleep by the time both adults reached the sofa, Emma and Killian decided to stay up a bit more. Cuddling turned into a full on make-out session, Emma on top, Killian’s hands travelling up and down Emma’s back, settling on her ass more than once, with each squeeze her moan took him over the moon. She didn't fail to please him either, her mouth working down his neck, leaving evidence just under his collarbone, and his moans motivated her even more. Their jeans rubbing together, his erection clearly visible and probably clearly felt by her.  
(They hadn't slept *wink wink* together yet, but had just slept together, in the same bed, and woken up with his morning wood against her back, which made him avoid her for a while day with embarrassment, until she whispered into his ear “I wasn't complaining” with a very, very smirky smile on her face and biting her lower lip, which made him blush, he basically turned into a tomato in the middle of their sons’ school’s playground.)   
She couldn't say the inside of her pants weren't a mess, because it was, and the only thing keeping her from tearing his clothes off right there and then was the fact that either boy could walk up on them at any minute. Which was kinda of a mood killer, so neither of them thought too much about that.  
She was in the middle of covering his jawline with kisses when he heard a faint “fuck it” that undoubtedly came from Emma, before she reached down, grabbed the ends of his shirt and pulled it up, throwing it on the floor when completely off of him. When she looked up at him, her eyes had something different in them, something Killian hadn't yet witnessed, her hands working their way up and down his torso, repeatedly, covering every inch possible, Killian bit his lower lip and followed suit. He rechecked down and pulled her shirt up above her head, immediately leaving a trail of wet kisses down her neck and chest, leaving a last one just above where her bra was in between her breasts. Emma arching her back in lieu of Killian’s actions, and dragged his face up to hers at once. Their kisses were getting more heated, more passionate, their tongues getting more and more action, hands no being able to pick a spot to rest still, their hips swiftly moving back and forth, Emma’s hands going down to his jean’s buttons next, but didn't quite reach.  
“Wait” he told her, breathless, panting trying to catch his breath to continue. “Not here.” He announced before standing up all of a sudden, holding Emma up with him. She locked her feet together behind him, and began once again to leave kisses on his neck while he headed for the bedroom.   
They were halfway through the corridor before a loud ringing mede Killian stop.   
It was Emma’s house phone.   
Who could possibly be calling her at this time he had no idea, so he just looked at Emma, hoping she would tell him what to do, after all, it was her house.  
“Let it ring.” she told him, before heading for his mouth. His legs began to move again, a robotic voice saying to ‘leave your message after the beep’ announced the end of that call, and all in all, the end of their night, for the voice on the message that was being left was not unknown to Emma, clearly showed by her sudden wide eyes and surprised expression, and after a few seconds not unknown by Killian either, as the caller left a pretty detailed message:   
_“Hey Emma, dinner last night was quite something, oh PAUSE sorry, it’s uhm Neal, just in case you didn't yet save my number. So yeah, I was thinking maybe we could go out again tomorrow, and hopefully you’ll take Henry, as you know I am dying to meet the little rascal. Ok, well, I know it’s late, my bad, and yeah, gimme a call. Bye.”_


	5. Chapter 5

Killian let go of Emma, making her legs slide down his and feet hit the ground with a heavy THUD. Emma’s guilt clearly visible on her eyes, as they watched Killian’s confused expression, waiting for him to do something, say something, anything. He just continued to stare at her, the worst parts of the voice message replaying itself in his head, _‘dinner last night' ‘we should do it again’ ‘call me’_ , over and over and over and over. His mind was still trying to process it all. Of course it could’ve just been that, she would’ve told him if it was something more, wouldn't she?  
The thing was, that at this point, his mind was so used to being positive, was so used to always seeing the bright side and the cup half full of all situations that in consequence he was living on edge, always on edge, always with fear that anytime his brain would decide to assume the worst out of a situation, and that would be it.

This was it.

He didn't see how he could've misinterpreted that message, it was pretty clear. He had thought he could trust Emma, but apparently he couldn't.  
“I’m - I - you -” he was lost for words, didn't know yet what it was that he wanted or needed to say to her. He just knew that right at that moment, the more he stared at her, the more he noticed how restless she was, and how her glance alternated between him and the machine behind him, he couldn't stay there.  
The inside of his head was literal chaos, he couldn't make out one clear thought, he couldn't let out one coherent phrase, his hands trembling and legs starting to get restless. His eyes couldn't focus on anything, and as much as he wanted, he couldn't look at Emma. He couldn't bare the fact that he made a fool of himself once more, that once again he invested his heart in someone who wasn't worthy. But oh my, how he thought Emma was worthy. He had fallen for her so deeply it was crazy. And that voicemail had felt like a rush of wind, pushing him straight up again, up to where she was only just another person to him, no one special. 

He had to get out of there.  
“I cant- We’ll-” he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “I can’t, right now,” he told her, eyes still closed as to avoid seeing her reaction, “I just need some time,” the more he went on, the more his words turned into mumbles.  
He turned his back to her, found his t-shirt on the floor, yanked it on, found his coat by the door, grasped it, was about to turn the knob when his posture changed. He turned around, all tall, “Liam, huh! I almost forgot Liam.” Oh how he was going to punish himself for that one later on.  
“It’s fine,” Emma started. She hadn't moved and inch, not even her glance -which was now glued to the flashing red dot on the machine. “I don’t want to ruin their sleepover,” she told him, “It may be their last one.” she then whispered.  
Killian then turned around again, opened the door and that was the last she saw of him for that night.

 _“Forgetting you kid, that’s real smooth(!)”_ he was mumbling to himself as he bolted down the stairs, only to be met by the bitter night breeze. _“Okay,”_ he started again, his legs moving rapidly down street after street, _“you’re gonna have to talk to her now Jones, you know that right? Oh God! And to think I loved her… Love her… Arghhh”_ He looked and sounded like a mad-man.  
Vacant street after vacant street blurred past his eyes, the look of guilt in her eyes being the main image in his mind, the icy breeze hitting his arms energised him even more to keep alive instead of wanting to give up his purpose in life. When his blurry vision collided with the bright reflection of the moon on the water in front of him, he felt like he could breath right. 

When they were younger, Killian along with his brother and mother lived in the countryside, his mom had bought a house right by the sea when his dad left them. She told them she wanted to start fresh, and for her there was no better way to live than by the sea. Killian could still remember the nights when him and his brother would insist their mom to let them camp on the beach, and even though she always said no at first, she was the first one to get the things ready, and would join her boys out on the sand. Those nights were always Killian’s favourites. They would watch the waves, and roast marshmallows on the fire they helped set up, their mom would sing them songs in Irish, and always ended the night singing the same song for them to sleep. He could still hear her soft voice against his ear, feel her heart beat beating simultaneously with his as he laid on her chest and one of her hands stroked his hair gently, while the other caressed his brother, who would always fall asleep first, and who would never hear the end of the song.  
Since he lost his mom, the sea had been a comfort, he had bought a boat because if he went further enough from the city, his mind would be clear enough for him to hear her sing again, for him to fall asleep with his mom’s voice against his ear. The softness of the waves and the calmness of the night and the bright dots that covered the sky reminded him of the lullaby, and whenever something bad happened, he always felt like he had his scape. This time it was no different.

Within 20 minutes of getting to the harbour, Killian had already steered Brita -named after his mother- quite far from all the bright city lights, and all the loud city noises.  
It had been ages since Killian had been sailing by himself, first it was his brother who accompanied him, then his late wife, and then his son, even when he was just a baby. So with no distractions whatsoever, he decided he had to figure things out.  
He anchored the boat, grabbed some pillows and cushions from below and placed it on the foredeck and plummeted down, focusing his eyes on the sea of stars above him, and ears on the swishing and swooshing surrounding him.  
He could name the stars no problem, and doing so sometime helped to calm him down he found, so he did, until he felt relaxed enough to see Emma’s face without the guilt in it.  
He loved her, he really did, but for him, a relationship had to be honest. There was no point in devoting yourself to someone completely and feeling like it was one-sided. He was always honest with her, baring in mind his life wasn't all that exciting, it was just his son, his brother and work. He knew that there were things about her past that she never told him, and there were things about his past that he never told her, Killian was a person that would only open up completely and utterly after time, and he could relate to Emma because she was also like that, so no pressure, from either of them, and what Killian was interested in was their future, not much so her past. It is true that your past shapes who you are, but it’s not all good, and he knew that sometimes talking about certain things was impossible. There are things that Killian hadn't even told his brother! The only person he had been completely and utterly opened with was Milah, his late wife, and it took almost 3 years for him to fully open up to her. He knew that Neal was bound to be in Emma’s life forever, they shared a son, and even though he didn't know details about their relationship in the past, he assumed it wasn't the best one, since he hadn't even met Henry yet. But he also thought that when the day came for Neal to re-enter Emma’s life, and they were still together, she would tell him, she would let him know that she was going to dinner with her ex, and would tell him all about it afterwards, and they could talk and figure things out together from then on. 

Despite his best efforts Killian found himself drifting to sleep some time later, his mother’s voice soothing him and taking him deeper and deeper into slumber:  
_‘Hush now, mo stóirín_  
Close your eyes and sleep  
Waltzing the waves  
Diving in the deep

_Stars are shining bright_  
The wind is on the rise  
Whispering words  
of long lost lullabies 

_Oh won't you come with me_  
Where the moon is made of gold  
And in the morning sun  
We'll be sailing’ 

 

Rays of the still rising sun started to bother Killian, making him wake up from a restless sleep. He got up already determined, determined to go through he plan he had thought of the night before. First, he would fish for a while, call him selfish, but he was enjoying the silence that surrounded him and if he could take advantage of it, he would. Then he would sail back to land and go over to Emma’s. Hopefully by then all 3 of them would be awake, and Killian would be able to ask Emma if they could talk. He had thought about what he wanted to say to her a lot, and had it all figured out in his head. All he had to do was to actually tell her the things he wanted, and not back away.  
He wasn't gonna back away.  
He had decided that.  
He would take this fishing time to put his mind in a relaxed state, and would keep it that way, he was determined!

 

The streets looked different from what he remembered them from the night before, but now was a different story, in order to not freak himself out, he was thinking of everything but what he was on his way to do, and it worked.

He got to Emma’s building and went straight up, the knock on the door making his heart accelerate with anxiousness. Premature anxiousness as no one answered. So he knocked again and waited.  
Nothing.  
And of course in his mind all the worst case scenarios were showing off, y’know things like hey were all kidnaped, or murdered, or combinations of the two…  
He shook his head, those were all very improbable situations! He knew that! So he took his phone and texted Emma:  
_‘Hi, are you at home?’_  
While sliding his back down the wall and hitting the floor.  
Minutes later, she texted back:  
_‘No, at my brother’s, we’re gonna take the kids to the fair if that’s ok.’_  
‘Yes, thats fine with me’  
He hit send and stared at the screen, anticipating something he knew wasn't going to come. His heart sped when he saw the bubble with the ellipsis just below his last message, and then his heart sunk when it disappeared and no message took its place.  
Even though he knew where the fair was, and could probably track them down, he decided not to go. He wanted, nay, needed to speak with Emma, needed to tell her all the things he thought about the night before, and tell her how much she meant to him, but he couldn't if he knew Emma’s brother and friend and their kids would be there, and no doubt knew that things between them were a bit shaky. And even if they didn't really speak until later, he couldn't be around them without feeling guilty that things between them were not good. So he decided to go back to his boat. At least there he wouldn't feel so miserable.  
_‘Will be at the harbour if need anything.’_  
He texted Emma, just in case Liam decided to climb the ferris wheel instead of asking to go on it and he was needed. 

The gentle rocking the waves provided him was all he needed to put his mind at peace, and the lives of other people on the tv made him forget, even if momentarily, about his life. So that’s how he spend most of his day, sprawled onto the bed, which took over 90% of the main cabin, and focused his attention on the tv, and whoever it was that that chef was shouting at now because they undercooked something.  
It was an unusually quiet day by the harbour, no one seemed to be in the mood to take their boats out, and Killian was probably the only one currently inhabiting any of the vessels around, so it came as a surprise to him when the noise coming from above sounded like someone saying ‘knock knock’.  
He wasn't in the mood for anything, so would just go up and see what it was that that person wanted so he could go back to his comfortableness.  
As soon as he stepped on deck, he was ready to tell whomever to just not bother him anymore, he was opening his mouth to start the rant when his eyes where met by striking gold hair, which was shining extra bright thanks to the sun, who coincidentally had decided to come out of hiding just that moment.  
Emma.  
She was there.  
Facing the water in front of her, her back to him, so his presence still unnoticed.  
“Hi” He said, as loud as he could get out, trying not to startle her.  
She turned around, worry on her face, she took a step closer to him and asked: “Can we talk?”

 

Killian led Emma down below deck; he had no clue what was going to happen, if they would just talk, or argue, or fight, or just stay in silence, but what he did know is that he didn't want to give anyone reason to meddle in his personal life, so being away from the few prying eyes was best.

The space on his boat was good, not too big but not too cramped either, they were in the middle of the lower part, in between two somewhat narrow couches, to one side rested a small kitchen with only what was necessary, while to the other there was a door, leading to where Killian was occupying just moments before.  
“Sit, please.” Killian told Emma, she seemed lost in the space, looking all around, trying to take it all in, even though there was nothing much to take in.  
She sat, hands in between her legs, eyes still all over the place. Killian headed towards the kitchen, “Would you like anything to drink? Coffee? Tea? Water? I’m afraid I don't have any cocoa.” he asked her, which shifted her attention to him, finally letting her focus on something.  
“Uhm, water is fine.” she replied, this time keeping her eyes on him while he moved about.  
Killian gave Emma a glass of water and sat on the couch opposite of her, coming face to face with Emma, the gap in between them not being all that big, all either had to do was lean forward.  
“The boys,” Emma started, “They’re with my brother and Mary Margaret, I hope you don't mind,” she was watching Killian closely, “I told them you had to go in to work this morning, and that we would maybe meet with them later on.” she then finished, her glance drifting towards the floor.  
Killian said nothing, just kept looking at her, kept thinking how only one night made him miss her, miss her face, miss her lips, her eyes, her touch, her.  
He missed her.  
He wanted to hug her, draw her in and hold her for hours.  
He longed to touch his lips to hers.  
Yet, he knew they needed to talk first. 

“Last night, it might have been wrong for me to just leave,” he started, which made her look up at him again, “It just was unexpected, really unexpected,” he chuckled at the floor, “and I had to clear my mind a bit.”  
“I know, I’m-” Emma started without delay, but was interrupted by Killian, who took her hand.  
“I pondered a great deal last night, and the truth is, I love you Emma Swan, no matter what you’ve done, I love you and I want to be with you.” His heart was open, and was also on the brink of pounding right off his chest. And even though he felt like he couldn't breath right, and he might pass out with all the apprehension he was experiencing, he found a spot, the tip of her nose, and put all his focus on that one spot, in wait for what she had to say to him, if she had anything at all at this point.

“I love you.” She let out, eyes watering, and she was clearly taken aback, not only by his confession but by how easily the words left her mouth. She was sure he would ask for them to break up, or to take a break, but no. The man had just confessed his love for her, she could've been cheating on him, she could've committed some sort of crime and here he was, telling her he loved her. No one had ever been this devoted to her before. The feeling was totally alien to her. However, she knew she had to explain herself to him, before anything, she had to give him the truth. But she was kinda speechless! 

“But I need to tell you everything before you make any decisions.” she told him.  
“I don't care, I want you. Your past in in the past, all I want, is to be part of your future.”  
“Please.” She was almost begging by this point. He was determined, he wanted her in his life, but she was also determined, she wanted to make sure he knew who he was getting involved with. So he gave in, and nodded to her, giving her the go ahead.  
“Ok,” she took a deep breath in, preparing herself to openly expose her past, the one thing in her life she wish she could forget, and how come she was in touch with her ex once more.

“Before Ruth adopted me, I was about 15, I kinda went into a rebellious phase, I had given up all hope of ever having a family, and just did what I wanted, not caring about anyone else.” She started slowly, her gaze on the floor, her hand still in between his. Killian then swiftly switched sofas, and Emma found him sitting next to her, facing her, all his attention towards her. He was in this as much as she was.  
She faced him, her glance still not directed at him, and continued: “And I met this guy, Neal. We became friends, and he was somewhat like me, his parents abandoned him too and he did what he wanted. So I began to spend a lot of time with him.” She then looked up at Killian, took another deep breath and continued: “When Ruth adopted me, I moved away, so me and Neal lost touch.” She rolled her eyes up, in an attempt to keep the tears that were forming from rolling down her face.  
“When I was about 17, somehow, me and Neal ended up in the same school. After I got excluded and had to start in a new place. And even though I had people that cared for me, in my mind it was too late, they had gotten to me too late, so I never really let go of the grudge of not having anyone. I was a difficult teen, misbehaved, skipped school and all, and when I got put on the same school as Neal, it got worse. He reminded me of the feeling of being free, he reminded me of the times when we left everything behind and would live our lives the way we wanted.” 

Her previous method of stopping the tears did not work, since by now, a gate seemed to have opened and was showering her freckles. Killian would alternate between rubbing gentle circles on the back of her hand with his thumb to caressing her face, comforting her. 

“It’s ok, you don't need to continue, I already told you-” he saw how distressed she was, and didn't want her to think that she had to continue if she didn't want to, but she interrupted him, “no, I want to, I’ve never told anyone about my past, even David only knows some bits, but I want to tell you.”  
He nodded at her, so she took another deep breath and continued.  
“I ran away with him on my 18th birthday. I left a note for Ruth and David, thanking them for looking after me but that from that point on I could look after myself. We had no where to go, but he did have a car, which we made our ‘home’, I loved him and he loved me and that was all that mattered.” she paused for a moment, “We stole and picked pockets to be able to buy things to eat, we drove wherever we wanted to go, I thought life couldn't be better than that. And then, one of his friends said he had a job for us, that would pay very good, so we immediately agreed to do it. All we had to do was steal these watches from this place, and deliver them to this other place. Seemed simple enough.”  
Deep breath in before continuing, “We had planned it all, and we did the job, and all went fine. We bought a trailer with the money we got from that, and a while later I found out I was pregnant.”  
She looked up at Killian, joy clearly visible in her eyes, whenever she talked about her son, she had an extra glow in her.  
“When I told Neal, he stood up and left. And I didn't see him for another week or so. When he came back, he tried everything to convince me to have an abortion, said we were too young to have children, that the life we lived wasn't suitable for a child, that we had a good thing going and the kid would just mess it all up.”  
The tears now were streaming down her face, her voice soft but cracking up, Killian doing his best to gently brush his thumbs on her cheeks to dry them up.  
“I told him that we could change our lives, we could get jobs and a house and become better people, and that I would not have an abortion, no matter if he stayed or not. He decided to stay, and to try and change. We picked a destination, Tallahassee, we decided to drive the trailer there, then sell it and buy an apartment, we would get jobs and live happily ever after.”  
Emma’s grip on Killian’s hand suddenly got a lot firmer, but she continued anyways.  
“One night, I was about 5 months pregnant, I woke up in the middle of the night and Neal wasn't there. I didn't think much of it since he sometimes did that, disappeared at night. But in the morning he wasn't there either, and I was just going on with my day when someone knocked on the door.”  
She took another deep breath in, “It was the police, saying that they had video evidence of me and someone else stealing some watches, and they immediately arrested me. They interrogated me and I went to court and Neal was no where to be seen. I was sentenced 8 months in prison, not only for the watches but for some other stuff too. I panicked, I had no clue what to do. I was pregnant, and the baby would be born in 4 months, and I panicked and cried a lot. The only person I could think of calling was Ruth. She was a lawyer before, so I called her, and she and David came to my rescue immediately. She had my sentence reduced to 4 and a half months, when the baby was born, she would be the one to have custody of him until I got out. I didn't tell her all that had happened, and she didn't ask.”  
There were no more tears from Emma, but her eyes didn't meet his once.  
“Henry was born and when I finally got out, Ruth and David were there waiting for me. They were nothing but supportive and helpful. Ruth helped me take care of Henry, and made me start my life again. I went to college because of her. I am who I am today because of her. Neal tried to phone some times, saying he was the kids dad and had the right to meet him, but Ruth threatened him and he played low. When Ruth died, I was lost, and so was David, so we relied on each other. Although I did get my own place as soon as I could, I had changed but not that much, I still didn't trust people, I still felt like me and Henry would be better off alone, I still felt the guilt of it all when I looked at that little face.”  
She looked at Killian before starting again.  
“About a month ago, Neal called me. Said he got my number off someone. Asked if we could meet up to talk. I told him no. But he kept on calling. So I met up with him, and he told me how he changed and how he went to prison also and how that made him realised he wants more in life. He wanted to meet Henry and be a part of Henry’s life. I never forgave him. But he wasn't lying when he said he wanted more in life, so I told him we could meet up again, and we did, about three other times, just so that I could see and feel him out before letting him get close to my kid. All we did was talk. He, of course, only talked about himself, and how his time in jail affected him, and changed him, and how when he got out he went around tying ties with anyone he ever crossed. Not once did he ask me about what happened. Not once did he apologise for leaving. Not once did he acknowledge that everything that happened was his fault.”  
The tears had started to stream down her face again, Killian was lost for words. He had no idea about any of it.  
He pulled her into his chest, caressing her back while she sobbed into him, mumbling things like “I’m sorry for laying it all on you” and “thanks for listening.”

After a few minutes, Emma had calmed down, Killian could feel it. He took her face in his hands and gently touched his lips to her forehead, before finding her eyes.  
“Forget about him love, he is no good. He may have been in your past but that doesn't mean he has to be in your future. Me on the other hand, I stand by what I said. Your past is in the past, all I want is to be part of your future.” His voice was low, lips inches from hers. He wanted to kiss her, he wanted to make her forget about everything. But he would let her make the first move, he didn't want to push her.

And make the first move she did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lullaby is called 'Song Of The Sea (Lullaby)', From "Song Of The Sea" (Nolwenn Leroy)


	6. Chapter 6

She plunged herself onto him, their mouths crashing together, before he knew it Emma was on top of him, straddling him. His leg in between hers, jeans rubbing together, hands all over.   
Given that the sofa both of their bodies were depending on was considerably narrow than they had predicted, Emma’s elbow was hitting Killian in a very bad place…   
“Wait wait” He told her breathless, while pushing her slightly away from him. Emma just looked at him puzzled, and sat back up.  
Killian just gave her a smile while standing up, he put his hand out for her, the second her hand touched his, he pulled her up in one swift motion and led her to his quarters.  
“For a minute there I thought you’d changed your mind sailor.” Emma let out the second they got in the room, before Killian plunged himself at her this time, making them both fall on the bed.   
Not gracefully though! Their foreheads bumped when they bounced down and up again… Their laughter was shortly muffled by neither of them waiting to waste any more time not touching one another.

Their breaths short-winded, the window glass completely covered in a thin layer of fog, their bodies submersed. Neither wanted to stop, neither wanted to abstain from the pleasure their were immersed in. Her hands running up and down his back, resting on his ass and grabbing it, pushing it more towards her so that he would be filling her completely, inciting a deep moan from her that sent him to heaven and back. His mouth didn't stop, didn't know which bit of skin to cover next.   
Right there and then time seemed to have stopped for them. Nothing else mattered but each other, and how they made each other feel, and moan, and roll their eyes and arch her back when he put one arm around her back and pushed her onto him while he sat up, hitting that sweet, sweet spot that just threw her over the edge. She moaned into his collarbone while he thrusted further in and out of her, barely containing the pleasure himself. He came first, but didn't even think about leaving her unsatisfied. He picked up his pace, her head still buried in his neck, breathing hard, biting his collarbone once it was too much and she could no longer contain her excitement.   
The aftermath was bittersweet, the room too hot for them to think straight, so their cuddle session in the bed got cut short. And shorter still when Emma’s phone buzzed and her brother was asking where she was and how long they were gonna take to meet up with the rest of them at the fair.  
“How about we continue this tonight Swan?” Killian told her when her disappointment shone through after reading the text. 

 

At the fair, their hands tangled together, faces displaying absolute bliss. Anyone who looked at them could see that they were on top of the world. And they really were. 

“Finally!” Killian heard David utter under his breath when Liam leaped towards his dad, wrapping his arms around his neck.   
A quick “Hi monkey” was all Killian could let out before Liam started to blabber about how the fair “is so so so so so so big daddy! Look! Mary Margaret got me sweets, but me and Henry have to share them, do you want to share some with us daddy?” Liam’s eyes were so wide in excitement it was refreshing to witness. Both boys were so hyped up Killian wondered how David and Mary Margaret were still in one piece!   
“So, you two, what’s the deal now?” David asked while Killian went to greet him. Mary Margaret didn't seem to like his forwardness, as she chimed in seconds later: “Don’t mind him, he likes to be nosey, don't you?” she asked him, while going to Emma and whispering something to her.  
“Yeah, I like to be nosey!” David said to Killian, both looking at their women, who were undoubtedly talking about the events of the previous hours.   
“Are we having another sleep over tonight mommy?” Henry asked Emma. She just looked up at Killian, not wanting to overstep anything.   
“If you want Henry, and if your mom agrees with it, sure we can have another sleep over!” Killian told him, before looking at Emma and flashing her a smile.

There was still a lot of fair to get through, and with two overexcited little boys, it took double the amount of time anyone could imagine. Mary Margaret and David had told the boys that they had to stick together, and hold hands the whole time, so that they wouldn't get lost, they had also written their phone numbers on the boys arms, just as a precaution! So hand in hand both tots walked, slightly in front of the four adults, all whose eyeballs were glued on them.   
“In all seriousness now,” David started, directing his attention from the little ones to Emma and Killian, “How are things between you too now?”   
Emma and Killian just looked at each other, he gave her a little nod and squeezed her hand, and she replied: “Good, really, really good.” The smirk on her face told David more than he cared to know about his little sister.

Sometime during that day, Killian found himself sat next to David, just the two of them, and he knew what was coming.  
“Okay, I have to do this, liking it or not, she’s my sister, and I will always be protective of her.” David turned to Killian and started, Killian just watched him, serious tone on his face, taking in everything the other man was telling him. “Emma’s not an easy person, even after years of showing her nothing but honesty and trust, she will still have her doubts. She may disappear for some time, she may not talk for some time, she may ignore everything for some time, and it is understandable if you need to do the same, but you need to know that she hasn't had a very nice life, and as much as she doesn't want to, her past is stuck with her. There is nothing in this world more important to her than Henry, and I would be concerned if you were anyone else, but he seems to really like you and you seem to really like him, so in that aspect, we’re ok.” Killian could see in David’s eyes how much he loved Emma and Henry, he presumed he was the first guy to ever get this talk, and David was laying it all out.  
“She’s worth it, every single fight and argument and disagreement and distance, she’s worth it. They’re worth it. And I hope you know how much she cares for you, I have never seen her like this before, this bubbly, this free, this happy. So,” he gave Killian a smile, “Yes, if you hurt her,” he flashed Killian his police badge, “I will do worse than kill you.” Then he gave Killian a pat on the back, stood up and walked away, towards a burger truck.

 

Hours had come and gone, and back at Emma’s apartment, the memories from the night before had dissolved themselves in laughter. All four of them were muddled up in the sofa, their difference in opinions meant that a movie had not yet been picked for that night, but the place was everything but silent. Killian had told a joke, which then pursued into Liam and Henry taking turns to tells their own jokes, some of which were funny, and others which weren't so much. It didn't matter, everyone would burst out laughing, no matter what. Emma had never felt so much joy in her life. The four walls surrounding them had never seen so much bliss in all their times. 

“I’m gonna let him meet Henry.” Emma whispered, into the void of her room. Killian, who had his arms around her and face buried in her hair, muffled a quick “Okay” and pulled her closer to him. “But I want you to come with me.” she then let out. “As you wish.” he muffled into her hair again. She then wiggled herself so that she could turn around to face him, without unwrapping his arms from around her. His face lit up only by the moon light made her heart skip a beat, his attention directed only at her, eyes locked on hers. He shifted closer, so that the tip of their noses touched, and their lips less than a breath away.  
“I want you there with me.” she told him once more, “I don't want to do this alone.”  
“You’re not alone.” He then whispered to her. “Whatever you need, I’m here.”  
“I’m scared.” she whispered gently, her eyes going from his to the outlines of his jaw.  
“Talk to me.” he told her, hand caressing her cheek, making her look up at him again.  
She hesitated for a second, but her walls would lower without hesitation when it came to Killian. This feeling was foreign to her, and sometimes she didn't like that with him, she was more than an open book.  
“He’s gonna be part of Henry’s life the moment I tell Henry about him, but he’ll only be there whenever he wants, and I don't want Henry to grow up with constant disappointment, because his father said something and didn't follow through.” Her voice was low, and overbearing with emotion.  
“You don't think he’ll follow through with things?” Killian asked.  
Emma just looked at him. “I don’t, I’m not, I-“ she was lost for words, didn't know what she thought or what she wanted.   
“Okay, lets just say he doesn't follow through, then it’s going to be up to you, and me, to teach him that in life, there are people who are worth your time, and those who are not.” Killian told Emma, while rubbing his hands up and down her back, underneath her shirt.  
Emma smiled at him, “Up to me and you?” she asked, with a total opposite tone to her voice.   
“Uhm, yeah, y’know, I was thinking in the next few months or so.” Uh oh, he didn't really think before he spoke, and now, apart from turning a bright shade of red, his heart felt like it was doing jumping jacks inside of him.   
“Just few months? Cos my bother’s getting married in more than a ‘few’ months, and here I was, hoping that you’d be my date to the wedding, so that I could make everyone jealous of how hot my boyfriend is.” The smirk on her face was the only thing that mattered to him right now, and as soon as she said that, his heart doubled in size.  
“I’m gonna need to get a suit.” he told her, but couldn't finish his thought as she chimed in “Two actually, I don't think Henry would enjoy this wedding too much without his best friend/bro with him.” Oh my god how he loved this woman! He pulled her in closer to him, bodies in contact from head to toe. His mouth found hers, and as much as he had promise earlier in the day that they would continue their rendezvous from before, right now he wanted to do nothing more than just be wrapped in this bubble with her, just the two of them, breathing each other in, not a care in the world. The only thing that would make this more bittersweet was if their little babes were there with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a while but got there! Here, have some fluff! :)


End file.
